NYC Math Teacher

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Today, my response to a question on Larry Ferlazzo's EdWeek blog about peer instruction was posted. In my response, I noted that if teachers don't create the proper classroom environment, then any cooperative learning venture will fall flat. I discussed the importance of learning students' strengths and weaknesses and starting small.

I recently wrote a response for Larry Ferlazzo's Classroom Q&A blog at Edweek on the question "How do you turn around a class that you've let get out of control?" In my response, I highligted four questions I often ask myself in these situations: What else are students going through? Which students act out the most? Is the level of work appropriate? Is the work predictable? I also advised not taking student misbehavior too personally. I've had students curse at me one day and give me a friendly greeting the next day as if nothing had happened!

The Specialized High School Admissions Test (SHSAT) is the standardized test used as the sole criteria for admission to the eight specialized high schools in New York City, including Stuyvesant High School, the Bronx High School of Science, and Brooklyn Technical High School. Today's Wall Street Journal had an interesting article that points out that Mayor de Blasio's plan to admit the top 7% of performers in each middle school would allow students who didn't pass state seventh grade tests to be admitted into these schools.

As I said in my quote in the article, it's hard to imagine that students who failed state tests could succeed in a specialized high school where coursework is more rigorous. However, that doesn't mean that those students don't have other skills that would enable them to do well.

Besides, replacing one controversial test with another controversial test doesn't seem to address the serious inequity in the specialized schools, where the proportion of black and Hispanic students is far below the citywide proportion.

The “box” or tabular method of multiplication is a great way for elementary, middle, and high school students to make mathematical connections. In this second of two articles, I discuss how the box method can be used to multiply and divide polynomials.

The “box” or tabular method of multiplication is a great way for elementary, middle, and high school students to make mathematical connections. In this first of two articles, I discuss how the box method can be used to multiply and divide numbers.